Running elections: tallies or complaints

For two companies the close of local body nominations marks the start of a period of counting, complaints and close calls.

Auckland-based Independent Election Services and Christchurchbased Electionz.com operate elections in 63 of the country’s 67 local body races. Unlike the national election, councils can choose how they want to run their local body polls and most choose to outsource the job to two firms.

Andy Asquith, a Massey University academic specialising in local body governance issues, has questioned the arrangement, saying it had effectively ‘‘privatised’’ local elections.

‘‘It is one of those things that is sort of accepted now because it is there and no-one seems to think that it is something that should be challenged or questioned, which I think is wrong.’’

But Warwick Lampp, of Electionz.com, said their independence meant they were able to push back against councillors and councils because councils were just one of many clients.

The two companies have similarities, both were founded by people linked to city councils during the 1990s and started getting council election contracts as technology evolved, voting systems changed, and council-employed returning officers retired.

Dale Ofsoske, was the New Zealand pioneer, and started Independent Election Services in 1995, winning the contract to run elections in Auckland City, Papakura District and Western Bay District.

Ofsoske managed electoral rolls as part of his role as a valuer for Auckland City Council but turned down a promotion to city valuer to go into the business of managing elections. From running three council elections in the mid-1990s, IES’s portfolio expanded out to cover 21 local body polls and 52 per cent of the country’s voting population.

IES’ main competitor, Electionz.com is actually ahead in terms of the number of polls it is involved in – 42 – and its haul includes Wellington and Christchurch but since it doesn’t have Auckland Council’s contract, the firm’s employees will likely end up counting fewer votes.

Lampp, business development manager for Electionz.com, said his company’s big break came in 2004 when councils switched over to single transferable vote and many thought the system would be too complex to manage in-house.

After the switch-over from first past the post to STV, Electionz.com went from counting votes in four polls (Porirua, Rangitike¯ i, Hutt City, and Ka¯piti) in 2001 to running 37 elections three years later.

Some councils outsource just the processing of votes but retain a council-employed electoral officer to make sure the law is followed but many employ election firms to do both. Asquith said he did not understand why the Electoral Commission didn’t run both local and central government elections.

‘‘I would raise questions about the ability of two small private entities being able to keep their finger on the pulse in terms of technology and security.’’

But Lampp said the opposite was the case and his company had built up specialist skills that it used 200 times a year, something that wasn’t possible for councils with a big election once every three years.

‘‘There is always an election going on somewhere.’’